Show: Master Gardener Station: KNCO File: 9:26.mp3 Air date: 2026-09-26 Source: OpenAI whisper-1 · shrunk from 123.6 MB to 24.7 MB, split into 8 pieces --- transcript --- Welcome to Master Gardeners and Friends Radio Show I am Master Gardener Christine Smith I am Master Gardener Chrissy Freeman We are here once a month on Saturdays Our program is brought to you by the University of California Cooperative Extension The United States Department of Agriculture Nevada County Master Gardeners and KNCO News Talk Radio along with all their fine sponsors The purpose of the University of California Master Gardener Program is to inspire foothill home gardeners to embrace research-based sustainable gardening practices so our community and environment thrive and this is a two-way radio program so that means we want to hear from you we want your calls we do and our phone number is 530-477-5626 that is 477-KNCO I do this for Christine she does, I love her it makes me laugh every single time we also have a text line because pictures can help out a lot send us pictures send us your questions or comments and that phone number is 530-913-4685 absolutely so we'd love to hear from you about what's happening in your yard any questions you have comments we want to hear about it if it's about home gardening we're here for you absolutely so what's new Chrissy? well you know we're having some really moderate weather aren't we though? it's been quite lovely and you know when I look at the long range 45 day forecast there is a period about 3 weeks out where we have like a 50-60% chance of rain for about 5 or 6 days then it goes back to not raining but we at least had that one we have a little moisture which I always appreciate yes as do the plants and so that's going to be a time when after that our soil should be kind of much more workable than it is now oh my goodness yeah if you haven't planted fall vegetables that would be a good time to have gotten those in but you can plant them now because it's not going to be super hot for the rest of the year yeah they ought to be safe absolutely and earlier is better because the soil is still warmer and that's a really good thing for getting those roots going yeah the roots will be stimulated yeah it might be by the time we get to that extended rain period of 5 or 6 days we'll have another 45 days out and we can see when the next rains are supposed to come I'm sure there's not a so the question is so when do you plant the permanent plantings in your yard because fall is generally the best time well it is yeah that's the time for doing foundation plantings you know the shrubs and also spring bulbs you want to be sure and get your spring bulbs in now oh that's a great idea yeah so as soon as that soil hello after the rain gets loose enough that you can actually dig get that little bulb trowel down in there so you can get the bulbs in would be an excellent time for that absolutely yeah so as far as so is it the right time to plant the trees and the shrubs in the ideal world we plant after the second good rain it doesn't mean Tuesday and then Wednesday it means Tuesday through Thursday and then it means a week later or two weeks later you have another good rain so it's not two days of rain it's like two different rain events not because they are the be-all and end-all of now the soil is right but because when we have more than one of those in the fall it tends to mean we're into fall and that wetter conditions will be coming which is what the plants want we all know no matter what kind of irrigation system you have anything between having irrigation under your soil to standing there with a hose nothing beats the rain that comes down it's perfect yeah good old mother nature a friend of mine and I we used to refer to it as miracle water yeah well you know it's not coming from the ground so it doesn't have all our hard chemicals in it like my water does it's so acidic oh my word I got to have my neutralizer tank and extra house filter so it's kind of rough on the plants I got a very acidic situation going on at my place that's where I have all the always adding organic matter make sure I've got microbes adding the microbes in the soil when I plant there you go it brings my soil alive to help counteract all that extra acidity that I have well you know interesting thing I learned about acidity what's that? and I checked with our master gardener advisor and he said yes I said here are some sources I have found that say it is and is it okay to say this he said yes so here's the deal there's a lot of popular talk about well if you plant around pine trees then the pine trees make the soil more acidic and if you put on mulch that is pine mulch or has needles it makes the soil more acidic actually here's what scientists have learned it's actually the other way around it's that yes it is that where the soil is acidic the pine trees want to grow they like the acidic soil there are plants that love the acidic soil exactly and so what happens is that once the tree has died so the needles and the bark and all those other pieces the acidity in them dissipates really quickly so using I wish I had known this four months ago we had when we moved to the new house there were several pine trees that were kind of leaning towards the house or very close to the house and not safe so we had them taken out and because I still thought oh okay well you know arbor mulch of pine trees will make my soil more acidic and I was already concerned about how acidic it would be because of the pine trees or because of the pine trees I let neighbors take it which was wonderful for them but after that I learned no I could have used that our very own mulch from our very own trees on my soil and it would not have contributed to the soil becoming more acidic and that's not having run those chips through any kind of composting correct, not composted just chipped I did not know that oh isn't that interesting isn't that amazing well that's very good news for people in this county you bet oh yeah oh that's cool isn't it isn't that crazy I tell you I learn something new every day and it's awesome it's wonderful I feel it's been one of the renewing things about moving and going to a new place as a gardener because you got a whole new plant palette to deal with whole new environment you know what I felt the same way when I moved from rough and ready to paredale yeah there's a change full hot sun banana bell into shady much cooler environment yes mainly the difference between full sun and part shade yes it was crazy we have to take a break now we'll talk to you in a moment we'll be right back right now you'll save $5 on a gallon of Benjamin Moore, Magnolia Home by Joanna Gaines, Clark & Kensington or Royal Paint when you buy a color sample once you've chosen your paint their experts will make sure you have the primer applicators and other supplies you need to get the job done so you only have to make one trip B&C Ace Home and Garden Center Hi, this is Ryan Valdez with Rock Rose Risk like many Californians I've watched homeowners face rising insurance costs policy cancellations and growing uncertainty especially in wildfire prone areas that's why we created Rock Rose Risk we work with homeowners, ranchers, farms HOAs, multifamily and businesses to better understand and reduce wildfire risk and help insurance companies recognize the importance of protecting your home and your property the result? 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Welcome back to Master Gardeners and Friends Yay! Radio show I'm Master Gardener Christine Smith I'm Master Gardener Chrissy Freeman and we're here to take your calls it's a two-way radio program our phone number is 530-477-5626 you know 477 KNCO and now we're talking soils we were talking soils soils are so important so important yes absolutely and what's that saying healthy soil healthy plants and it's true it really is true it's right there along with you get your right plant right place it is and if you're not growing I'm going to put aside for a moment the question of if you're growing vegetables or fruit trees which are per say not native right I mean there's the rare one but let's just say they're not but those aside even when you're planting other horticultural plants that are not native exactly ornamentals the point often is not to match this not to change the soil so that it works for the plants you want to plant but to select the plants based on the kind of soil that you have exactly because then you can have more success and your plants will have more success it will cost you less money because you'll have less die off because the plants are appropriate for the environment and soil right so we were talking about the acidity of your soil and a lower number is more acidic on the pH scale and a higher number is more basic and that's always seemed backwards to me But hi, I didn't make it up. So anywho, it's very important. We cannot tell from looking at our soil how acidic it is. There's no visual cue. This is a chemical aspect, yes, of the soil. So it's really important to do testing. The soil testing. Here we go, back again to soil testing. So you have a starting place. Right, so we talked last week about, so you get the soil test. And we encourage people to get soil tests done. We're hoping that at least a few people actually did get soil tests done. It is becoming more expensive, in part, I'm sure, because of the materials are more expensive. But it also is true that the soil has to go to a lab, and shipping two pounds of ice. I submitted, it's about a pound of soil per test. I submitted two different samples from two different areas. I'm shocked they needed that much. That's how much they ask for. They give you a bag, you weigh the bag, and you're like, oh, it is a pound, which is what I'd always heard. So I had to mail away two pounds of soil. It was over $30 for the mailing. I'm like, really? I'm kind of surprised as a person. Yeah, and then you pay for the soil test. So it's not inexpensive. So one thing you can do, if you say to yourself, OK, I can't keep redoing this to see how my soil is doing every year. And I would only do that when I was doing vegetables, because then you've got some heavy feeders in there. How is your soil doing? And so on and so forth. You can get home soil test kits. They're much simpler. Only measure nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, the three major nutrients, and pH. Yes, and they're very simple things you can do at home. You know, little eyedropper kind of thing. And so what I would do, and this is even quite a long time ago, I would do the more expensive soil test that you send away for. I do that, and then in subsequent years two and three, I would just do the home soil test. Then year four, I might pay to have the soil test again. And then do that, because then it costs me less money. But also, by doing the home soil test in between, I can make sure that my soil in the vegetable garden is not getting too far off of the direction I want it to head. Yeah, because with veggie gardens, typically they're heavy nitrogen feeders. A lot of the summer veggies are. Right, and because we expect those plants to go all the way from teeny tiny little plants with just little bitty roots, all the way through the flowering stage and the fruiting stage, and in the case of natural feeders, all the way to the seed stage. But those are out. But let's not count that part. But all the others, it's like, you have to go through flowering and fruiting in one season. That's a lot of nutrients. Yeah, you're like, you know, you're really calling on that plant to do a whole lot. So you have to make sure that it has in the soil what it needs to accomplish that. Yeah, yeah, that's the ideal. Right, and I found that over the course of 20 years of doing this with our soil, that when I would do the big soil tests every three, four years, three years probably, overall the soil would get better and better. Because all those other nutrients. Trace elements and so forth. And the cation exchange, which is the ability of the soil to provide the nutrients, to hold and provide the nutrients. I think, I don't know, I have to check it. Don't take that as gospel. I will look that up again. I have learned it three times. Sometimes we have to do things multiple times. But things really trended upward over time. So if you're doing fruits and vegetables, you're going to need a long-term plan for building soil. Very few people in our county are just going to move in and go, well, isn't this soil just perfect for my fruits and veggies? It's just not going to happen unless you bought the house we sold, which is a buy from a master gardener. Your soil's probably going to be pretty darn good. That's so funny. So then when you plant, as we were talking about ornamental plants, native or non-native, it's going to be a lot better if you do that one soil test, figure out what your soil is like, and then say, oh, I see, it's this level of acidity. Then you can find online what the range of acidity is that any specific plant tolerates. You don't have to do that for every single plant. But if there are plants where you don't know the answer, OK, you probably don't have to do it for rhododendrons and azaleas as long as you know that the soil says it's acidic. You're like, well, you're going to like it here. And if the soil says it's not acidic, you're going to say, oh, I should find a different place for you. Yeah. Yeah. It's wonderful how available, readily available, this information is. Yes. It's easy to find it. And then you're getting your plants in the right spot. Absolutely. Isn't that a big go-getter for them thriving and you having a happy garden? Yes. I love it. And I just love learning all those details about the plants. I'm figuring probably most people who are listening to the radio show feel the same way. Yeah. It's just fun to learn about everything. And it helps you make better planting combinations, too. Find out what the plants like. And then you can group them together. It's the same thing grouping for water, leaves, sun exposure, shade plants, sun plants, part sun, morning, sun, afternoon. All of those aspects of planting, the information is out there. You just have to pursue it. Right. And it's really terrific. And we do understand that getting that information and getting that information in an organized way, getting it quicker, is easier. To do the right thing. There's that. I was going to say it's easier if you are comfortable using stuff, getting information digitally. But there also are, you're going to be able to find plenty of print material. If that's what you want, you can find wonderful books. You know, there's the Sunset Western Gardens as an encyclopedia of information about any plant. You can see its specific soil needs, its acidity range, those kinds of things. Its sun needs for your sunset zone. Exactly. Yes. Yes. It's marvelous. And now also with the Calscape, that's another wonderful resource. It has so much wonderful information. And we can choose plants that are native to our area. That's right. And yeah. And you, OK, I discovered something. When I started working with getting a list of plants on Calscape to use for our new garden, I discovered something really interesting and powerful. OK. So we've talked before. So Calscape is C-A-L-S-C-A-P-E dot O-R-G. And it is a website run by the California Native Plant Society. And if you register, if you just log in, and you don't have to give them any information except your email address, and then you need a password, that's it. They don't collect any other information that's associated with you. So what they want, so what you can do once you have an account, which is free, is, and they don't sell your information, then you can put plants into various plant lists. Yes. So you can have a plant list for the front yard, or a plant list for container plants, whatever you want. Yeah, I love it. I'd be all the different beds. I have beds, flower beds all over. And that's how I organized it on my computer at home, and keeping track of everything. And it was such a big deal when I first started it. And in seeing the plants that did well, didn't do well, these are in, those are out, these died right away. Yeah. Not every plant can put up with my particular form of abuse. But yeah, it's great fun. And that's so cool about the Calscape, because you can work on projects. Oh, I'm going to do a couple of plant lists for, there are a couple of nonprofits that got some grants to put in some native plants. And so they asked if I'd put together a plant list, so I'm going to do that. 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We're your hometown team, and we've got you covered. ♪ It's as easy as A, B, C ♪ And welcome back to Master Gardeners and Friends Radio Show. I'm Master Gardener, Christine Smith. And I'm Master Gardener, Chrissy Freeman. And we're just having so much fun here today. R, we want you to come join us virtually over the phone. Yeah, give us a call at 530-477-5626. That is, of course, 477-K-N-C-O. I can't help myself every time it grabs me. You make me sound like I'm somebody funny, which is just a joy, and I think overblown, but anywho. So we were talking about what it was that you could, This is what you can do once you have a plant list on Calscape. You can, in one or two clicks very easily, you can download it as an Excel spreadsheet. So perfect. I love Excel. Oh, yes. I love Excel spreadsheets. They're my, they make my heart go pitter-pat. I know. I am the same way. Because then I can collect all this information. And here is what you can, what you can, what you can discover once you've downloaded the spreadsheet. There is more information on this spreadsheet than there is on the plant detail page for any particular plant. Oh, yes. Like, like the, it's pH range is there. It's lowest and highest elevation. Oh, my goodness. Oh, oh, my God. And lots of really interesting stuff. Yes. So I did that. And then I started making that spreadsheet my own. I would add, like, totally customize it. Right. Exactly. Because I made a list, I made a plant list on Calscape of the plants that I want to put in our backyard this fall. Uh-huh. Oh, good. You know. Oh, my gosh. Because when you do this, you get, for every plant, there are some beautiful pictures in Calscape. Oh, yeah. So whenever you look at your plant list, you can just go look at photos of the plants you want to have. And you can dream that they're going to look that way in your yard. Exactly. And. Oh, you know, us Master Gardeners, we love this stuff. Yes. We love all this detail. We really get truly excited about all this. And so you can, you know, you can, you can sort for things like, is it. Love the sorting. Exactly. Can you sort for, and you can do some of this online with Calscape. You can, you can filter for just deciduous plants. But you can, you can, I set up, anyway, so you can, you can sort them, you can filter them. You can add a column with your very own kind of notes. What I did is I went, okay, here are the plants I want. And then I started adding columns for like, different nurseries, I could get them out. So that then when I go to a nursery or go to an online plant sale, I have my, I have my shopping list. Handy dandy shopping list. For that area. Yeah. Yes. Love it. So just, I really recommend that if you, and you know, if you have some natives, but not all natives, that's perfectly fine. And you can have one plant list or you can have 20 plant lists. Calscape is perfectly fine with that. Yeah. And just have fun. And if you do other, other kinds of plants besides natives, another thing you could do is you could have, you could download your Calscape plant list, and then you can add on those for other plants that you have in that same area that are not native. And as you gather information from other sites about those non-native plants, those ornamentals, you can put that information in there. Exactly. So you can still do the same kind of sorting. You just have to do some of that. I am not, it could be that there are other sites where you can create plant lists and then download, custom plant lists and then download them. I'm not aware of any, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. Exactly. And if there are, and you know of one, please text us or call us. Let us know. Yeah. Let us know. Because we. More information. We love it. Yeah. So it's been really fun doing that. So we're, that kind of circles back to the question of soil type, you know, sandy, loamy, clay, loam, clay, you know, and then it circles back to the question of pH level. So this is how you get more pH information about any native plants is by downloading the plant list because you can't see it. It's not a filter. Okay. I don't think it's a filter and I know you can't filter. Like I found out that one of my, one of my two soil samples was, has a pH of 5.7, which is really pretty acidic. Yeah. It's really pretty acidic. The other one is more like, you know, 6.9 or 7, which is very neutral and like the easy one. But you say to yourself, well, what are the plants that want that acidity? Yeah. And what are the plants I should definitely not plant there? So that it all works out to, to get to direct one, choose the correct plant for that, the particular location. And I will definitely admit to there are times I don't like the answers. Well, yeah, that's true, but I wanted to plant over there. Yeah. Darn it. Yeah. So then you go and look for plants that are similar, you know, something similar with similar characteristics that like that, whatever particular environment is in that location. So true. So, you know, that's good advice. It's really amazing, you know, swapping plants out and you can, it's pretty, pretty astonishing how you can find replacements that have completely different requirements. It's kind of fun. And I have to tell you, there is a, for those who are slightly on the more adventurous side digitally, there was an easy way to find things like this. You still have to check them, but you just put that question in your browser and that browser's AI will go, oh, you just asked me, you know, what plants look like, look and behave like this plant, but can tolerate a pH of whatever your pH is. It will give you a list of plants. It will provide supposedly links to what are supposedly their information sources, though I sometimes find that information source doesn't have that information that I can find. So I then have to look further, but it gives you clues as opposed to going, okay, from all the plants in the universe, which ones look like, look like azalea, but don't, but don't want, need that kind of acidity. Don't need an acidic environment. Maybe it needs a more alkaline environment. Or even neutral. Yeah, exactly. So what looks like that? So there's always a way. And I find just making these plant lists, and I go from a plant list to a plant layout. And just by doing, I do layouts, I do layouts for each, all of my, each of my beds. And I mean, I'm really into this. And it helps me make better choices and more deliberate choices instead of, you know, I am a big one for trial and error, without a doubt. But sometimes you find a particular plant and you want to be sure it goes in the right spot because it might be expensive, it might be rare, for whatever reason. And you want to make, you want it to be one and done. And so doing all this build up and the layouts, the lists, that, you know, it gets you really thinking about what you're doing. And you know, because you consider the sun exposure, how much moisture is it going to be getting? You know, all these things, all these aspects. And I think it, you know, just in the long run, you just feel more, I feel more comfortable that I've really researched and the plants are going to be happier. Yes. You know, that's, that's just me. Also it's a way that you can garden at night. Exactly. I get, I can get my, I can do my cruise, okay, cruise and look up my information and see all my pretty flowers and plants when it's black as night outside. Or too hot to want to go out. Or too hot to be out. Absolutely. 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Join us for the most comprehensive local news in town, then get ready to answer a question about one of the stories to win the prize of the day. Welcome back to MasterGardener's and Friends Radio Show, I'm MasterGardener Christine Smith. I'm MasterGardener Chrissy Freeman. And give us a call at 530-477-5626. 477-KNCO. Okay, what were we chatting about? Oh, well, you know, I wonder if we should go on to something else. Because we were talking about soil. So, once you know, once you have the results of your soil tests, definitely do have that informed, what you have as your plant list, and what you do or don't do to your soil. And it's, you do a better job than I do, Christine, of keeping track of all the plants you plant, and when you plant them, and how they do. The whole garden journal thing. Yeah. And I have good intentions, and I'm not as good. Yeah. I'm terrible. Well, you are one crazy busy lady. Crazy busy. That's because I throw things everywhere, like keep a garden journal. So, what I was going to say is, but I do keep the information on the soil tests, because this is stuff you cannot remember year over year. Oh, gosh, no. And what you want to do, if you're in a place for a period of time, is you want to compare this soil test with the soil test or test you've done in the past. Exactly. If you're doing things that are in proper response to the soil test results, you will feel good when you compare them, because you will see that your soil is good. It's getting better. Yeah, and you see that. It's right there in the paperwork, the test results. Right. And that's really great. It's invaluable information to have on hand, and to retain that. Right. So you can go back and look. Right. And that's a good thing. Right. And see the progress. Right. There's a whole other realm of soil testing that I have not done, but I have met someone who… Good heavens. Yes, this is microbial soil testing. So this is, tell us about the little critters who are living inside the soil and how many of them there are, which is really in many cases the criterion that you want to pay attention to because the more good critters there are in your soil, the more they'll be able to make the minerals that are naturally in your soil bioavailable to the plants. The more your plants will feel connected to one another because those microbes will be carrying information back and forth. And they process the soil and make the nutrients that are in the soil, exist in the soil, available. Yes. It's like they chelate them, I don't know, I don't think that's it. Yeah, they do. They make them available in a form that the plants can uptake and utilize. Absolutely, absolutely. So they're working in there. Yes. The microbes are working. If your soil is alive, it's a wonderful thing. Absolutely. And you'll know because your plants will thrive. Right. We do know that, of course, compost is a great way to increase the level of good microbial activity in your soil. And that's particularly useful when you have vegetables and fruit trees, as we've talked about before, because they are big feeders. So they need to have a lot of exchange with the soil in order to do their best. So this is why we tend to add compost once or twice a year at least to our vegetable beds. And it's nice to put it around the fruit trees. But fruit trees, because they develop deep roots, tend over time to require less and less from us until the point at which they are completely – all of their nutrient needs are met through the soil and through the microbes in the soil that they have fostered and foster back. And so they tend to – you don't need – I was told this by someone who was at UC Davis, who came and spoke with our master gardener training class on fruit trees. He said, when the fruit trees get, you know – A certain age. You don't need to fertilize them anymore. Yeah. And I didn't. And we got tons of fruit every year, 20 years of fruit trees. And I think I fertilized for the first, I don't know – Ten. Well, probably even only four, you know. Four, maybe five, but not too many, really. Yeah, yeah. So then, you know, the native plants, I've heard both ways. So the predominant point of view now through the California Native Plant Society and some of their sources are that you don't need to fertilize your native plants unless you're planting them out of their – far out of their native range. We're talking about California native plants here in California. So if you're getting, you know, plants that are from a riparian area and you're putting them somewhere else, well, you're really having to change that environment in order for them to work. So – but compost is a really great way to naturally add microbes, good microbes to your soil. There are places locally that where you can get compost teas, you can get compost elixirs, dah, dah, dah. You can get other ways of adding kind of a more concentrated form of those beneficials from the – in the – that come from compost. And plants as real – plants love compost tea. It is a good thing. Overall, feedback I've gotten from people regarding compost tea, everyone I speak with, they just think it's just a bomb. It is. Yeah. It is. Yeah. It really works. I found – well, my husband found, I give him full credit. He found a really – so for many years when I would get compost tea, I would have to have this big one-gallon jugs and take them empty down to one of the local nurseries that occasionally would sell compost tea. I'd have to be there on the day when they had made compost tea because it takes a couple of days to make. And then they would decant it into these one-gallon jugs. I'd take the one-gallon jugs home and then I'd mix that up with water and apply it to the plants. My husband found compost tea bags. Oh, yeah, yeah. I've seen those. Yeah. I've seen those. They look like a slightly large tea bag. And you put it in a bucket of water and you slosh it around and you let it sit there for 24 hours. Isn't that awesome? Then you just apply that. That's great. It's very compact. Boy, talk about easy. Man. Really easy. Yeah. Yeah. That's real easy. And really very compact storage. Hello. Yeah. It's smaller than a one-gallon baggie. Wow. Of these compost tea bags. Yeah. And so I take one out, pull out a bucket, fill it with water, stir it around, that's it. Yeah. Presto chango. Yeah. Go out and water tomorrow. Exactly. Love it. Yeah. Love it. Boy, that's about as easy as it gets. Exactly. That's good. So, in any event, that's the thing about the soil. Now, if you want to know more about, well, what is the soil like here? La, la, la. If you happen to have a geology interest or background, you can, if you look for soil map of Nevada County, you can, it'll come up. There's one for western Nevada County at least. I don't know about eastern, but western Nevada County. It looks, and let me put on my glasses and see who did this. Hang on. Oh, it's the Nevada County Resource Conservation District. Oh, okay. Which is a great resource. Resource. Ha, ha, ha. We'll talk more about them. So the soils map, it looks a little psychedelic because there are so many colors on it. Yeah. Like probably 50 colors. And a teeny tiny little legend that tells you what each color is. How do you differentiate among 50 colors? I think it's a little hard to do. But it gives you a general idea of the diversity of soils. It's a hugely diverse area, our county, in terms of soil types and mixes of soil types. Because what there really is, as you look into soils in our county, is there's a layer of this, and then there's a layer, and in this layer, it's 5% this, and 15% that, and 25% that. So we don't usually have to. We as gardeners, this is like, ah, it's a bonus round if this happens to be an interest of yours. But we don't need to know that. And now we're off for our big. Top of the hour. Yep. We're going to break, and we'll see you back here on the radio in just a few. Keeping Nevada County green and gorgeous. The Master Gardeners on KNCO Grass Valley, Nevada City. 106.9 FM and 830 AM. It's 11 o'clock. Ready to check glassblowing off your bucket list? At Bear River Glassworks in Grass Valley, their three-hour intro classes let you create something truly unforgettable. Make a hollow-blown jellyfish using gold and silver fuming to create beautiful shimmering colors, or create your own hollow-blown glass pumpkin just in time for fall. Get hands-on, play with fire, and take home something amazing you made yourself. Book your class today at BearRiverGlassworks.com. That's BearRiverGlassworks.com. Bad decisions limit future options. Make enough bad decisions, and you will destroy your life. Listen to the FlotLine with your host, Rick Hughes, every Sunday morning at 8 here on KNCO News Talk 830. The FlotLine describes a main line of resistance in your soul built on God's Word. Join us each Sunday for 30 minutes of inspiration, motivation, and education, all without manipulation. That's the FlotLine with Rick Hughes, every Sunday at 8 AM, right here on KNCO News Talk 830. Hello there, and welcome back to Master Gardeners and Friends Radio Show. I'm Master Gardener Christine Smith. And I'm Master Gardener Chrissy Freeman. And we want to review our workshops coming up. Let's see, on October 3rd, the next workshop, October 3rd, and that is at the demonstration garden. It's called Spring Flowers. I bet that's going to be fun. Get a real nice dose of color for spring planning. Very good. Alrighty, and that's always at 1036 West Main Street in Grass Valley, behind the NID building. That's where that's held at. In our beautiful pergola. Yes! In the demonstration garden. Absolutely. Okay, then, on October 10th. Oh, here we are. Oh, you can speak to this one. It's the Native Plant Roundtable. Yes. Your questions answered. So, it's the very last workshop. It is. And so, folks can bring their questions, situations, things they have discovered in their native plant quest. Yes. And that's a good thing. Yeah. So, this is going to be all the people who have been, all the Master Gardeners who have been presenters at one of our six workshops that we've had this year on native plants for the Sierra foothills. And so, you can submit your questions in advance. I'll tell you how to do that. Or you can just bring them with you and we'll do that thing where we have people who go around and, you know, collect your little three by five cards in which you've written a question. Yeah, that's good. And then we'll answer your questions. Oh, that's great. Yeah. And with everyone that's done the workshops, all six, gosh, what a wonderful resource of folks to answer native plant questions. I really think that people are going to, this is a pretty unique opportunity because usually when you ask somebody a question, you get what one person knows. And here we can have, who among those six people goes, oh, I tried that, here's what I found, or I looked into that and here's what we know about that. So, you're getting to pick six brains instead of just one at a time. And that's pretty neat. That's pretty awesome. That is a great resource. It is really fun. And I think the other thing is that you're going to come and you're going to find that somebody else has a question that you didn't know you had. Oh, yeah, that's so true. Because, oh, never thought of it from that angle. And you learn just by participating because other people are asking questions that are very good as well. So, you can come even if you don't have any questions in mind. Please do. Yeah, come and hang out. It's kind of a, it'll be a conversation about native plants. I'm sure that what's going to happen is that one person, one of the presenters is going to say something. Somebody else will say something else. We'll kind of bring that whole question forward. And we might even ask, so how many of you all have done blah, blah, blah? And, you know. And that brings everybody into the picture. Exactly. Yeah, it's everybody part of the conversation. Right. And so that's very cool. Yeah. And, you know, it's sharing experiences. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'm going to try to give you the link to where you can go if you would like to pose your questions in advance. Mm-hmm. So, this is like a short, this is a, there's an app online called Bitly, B-I-T-L-Y. And so they, this app allows you to make a short and intelligible, understandable URL for something that otherwise would be like a whole long string of letters and numbers and it's ridiculous and no one will ever find it. So, this is, it goes like this. H-T-T-P-S colon slash slash, which is the usual, you know, beginning for a lot of websites. And it goes. bismboyit.ly that's the only thing you have to know then slash forward slash native plant questions all one word and it will gather all those it gets you to that it's a shortcut to this very long ridiculous code for the Google form unless you can ask your question but we don't have to get into it being a Google form the point is just you just go b-i-t dot l-y forward slash native plant questions and it'll get you there question in and yeah and then somebody from the the presenter group will go in and pull them off and mm-hmm yeah so then we'll have the quest the questions that people submit in advance yeah there'll be among the questions that we'll tackle and we can have even better answers if we have a little while to research them that is so true yes I love it when we make that the technology work for us right it's so true yes yes yes no doubt yes no doubt so that's that workshop yeah that and that's October 10th and again at the demonstration garden on it they're always on Saturdays from 10 to noon and always free everything with us master gardeners do it's all free we just we love plants and we love to share what we've learned with all of you so on that note October 17th our workshop is called designing and planning your vegetable garden oh see that's now it's the time to then start planning for your spring vegetable garden hello and so much fun oh I love that idea yeah that's that's always a good one and then excuse me October 24th compost oh wow I feel like we've touched on these topics earlier in the program which is to say that before we looked at this list of upcoming workshops but that is to say I love it you see the master gardeners have planned the years worth of workshops in advance so that the timing works out well for the various topics exactly yeah that is so it's their season appropriate mm-hmm absolutely yeah and if you thought you learned a teeny little bit about compost and soil when we were talking today the people who are giving this workshop are people who are focusing on that as one of the really big knowledge and interest areas within master gardeners that's how we work so when you go to a workshop you'll be going to a workshop that is being presented by people who have focused on that topic so they've done a lot of research they their presentation has been reviewed by by our yeah yeah exactly and master gardeners and someone at UC Davis and so this really is information you can count on yes yes and I'm not doing this to promote master gardeners much as I love but it's to say you know when you're a gardener you can get all kinds of anecdotal information and what you want is to be able to go sit down here and see somebody give a presentation and go I can trust this information yeah yeah and you can when you come to the master gardeners and so it's gardeners this is quite the resource yeah it really is the whole master gardener organization I will toot our horn it is it's a wonderful resource for the community absolutely is because there's so many of us we all have our own particular topics that we're interested in and so we delve into those in depth and and bring all this wonderful information to you it's so true people out there absolutely true it's really terrific so we have to take another break okay we'll be right back in just a moment have you seen how outdated our window treatments are yeah we definitely need to do something about that what are you thinking I was checking out budget blinds of Grass Valley they've got so many options blinds shades shutters you name it sounds good I wonder if they offer cordless options for safety they do they're all about keeping it safe especially for younger kids and pets that's important and where are they located right on 310 Colfax Avenue plus they do free in-home consultations can't beat that convenience perfect let's give them a call at 530-274-1122 and set something up explore a variety of stylish options including child safe and cordless solutions upgrade your home with budget blinds of Grass Valley located at 310 Colfax Avenue or call them at 530-274-1122 to set up your free in-home consultation today transforming your windows transforming your home why suffer through slow spotty internet or worse no internet at all at smarter broadband we believe fast reliable internet isn't a luxury it's essential whether you're working from home attending online classes streaming for your favorite shows you deserve the service that actually works that's why we deliver dependable fiber fed line of sight internet to the places big companies tend to overlook right here in the Sierra foothills with speeds up to 200 megabits per second and plans starting at just $49 a month you can stream without buffering zoom without freezing and keep the whole family connected without negotiating who gets the Wi-Fi and because we're a local company based right here in Nevada County where our customers voted us best of the best you'll always get real customer service from neighbors who actually answer the phone no robots no runaround just real people who care don't miss out on high-speed internet just because other providers can't find your road call smarter broadband today at 272-4000 or click request new service at smarter broadband comm smarter broadband internet built for rural living ready to brighten your day Grass Valley provisions is where you'll find a wide range of products designed to support your well-being from stress relief options to healing topicals enjoy a welcoming relaxed space where you can browse learn and find what helps you refresh and recharge and Grass Valley provisions they believe in giving back every month a portion of their Sunday sales supports a local Nevada County nonprofit organization September proceeds benefit the Ruediger Foundation that provides canine resources funding and support the local law enforcement agencies to foster community safety and connection visit Grass Valley provisions beautiful showroom on Idaho Maryland Road in Grass Valley open seven days a week 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. or shop online at GV provisions calm and remember to shop on Sundays to support our local nonprofits Grass Valley provisions lift up your day the Grass Valley way KNCO.com provides a way for your civic service group or nonprofit organization to tell everyone about an upcoming event or fundraiser and it's free the KNCO community calendar go to KNCO.com click on the calendar button in the blue bar then click submit an event and fill out the form once okayed your event will be added to the community calendar on KNCO.com and added to many of the local area Chamber of Commerce websites as well it's free and available to you from KNCO News Talk 830 well welcome back to master gardeners and friends radio show I'm master gardener Christine Smith and I'm master gardener Chrissy Freeman okay and you wanted to review something oh I did so the yes yes we we master gardeners and probably and definitely a couple of other of the local plant related nonprofits got an alert and that is that a terrible pest has has been found in Placer County and Vince and plants that contain this pest have been sold so we might any of us might have gotten them this is called the glassy winged sharpshooter which sounds just fine except it's not it's a major threat to the county's plants and landscapes it carries let me first tell you where where if you should be concerned okay they've known that this plant was a big problem they've known that it was other counties so however in Placerville in the pardon me in Placer County at the Costco stores if you bought a grapevine between April 21st and May 21st or if you bought a desert willow between June 24th and July 3rd those are the plants that have been identified as being ones where the glassy winged sharpshooter has been found in plants that were sold Wow so desert willows grapevines yeah okay this in this spring I was aware that they were early a great pest yes but I boy desert willow Wow I know that's unfortunate I love those little shrubbies so here's what happens is that the glassy winged sharpshooter itself is it's what's called a vector for disease that means it's not that it causes the damage it's that it carries something that is the disease it carries a lethal bacteria and that bacteria it kills plants and it it really really shortens their lives if you you could get a widespread infection across many many plants across and and across a wide landscape in a very short period of time and it's really really hard to get rid of the glassy winged sharpshooter once that has happened okay you have to do pesticides property inspection trapping the whole routine because the downside of this getting out and spreading further is so high so right now do it it has not been we are not aware of plants that have been sold in Nevada County that have had the glassy winged sharpshooter but we are aware that just in the next county over the closest Costco or in Costco's to us have had that yikes as a pest so we really need to be on top of it if you have a neighbor who's bought one of those plants in the last you know in the spring or early summer you could I'm sure find a lovely way to mention it to them because they're not going to want that plant to die and to kill other plants in there on their property so they should welcome the ghastly danger is that it can infect your whole landscape yes my goodness I didn't realize that was a problem I mean I know that the wine grape growers have been crazy about this situation for years yeah I've heard about it mm-hmm but I had I didn't realize it went up all throughout like other landscape plants I don't know what other landscape plants besides desert willow I can find out well yeah there's I'm sure a whole list of yeah I'm yeah hard to believe yeah yeah it's definitely something to be aware of and goodness sakes I sure hope that Costco's I'm sure they've pulled those plants and destroyed them appropriately right yeah what a mess right yeah goodness sakes yes let's see here what does you see IPM say so IPM integrated pest management and you can access that through our master gardener website yes or you can just go and find integrated pest management UCI a NR for agricultural and natural resources okay so let's see it is it it see grapes alfalfa almond mulberry oleander sweet gum cherry plum leaf phony peach disease plum wide range of scale trees sycamore maple oak citrus coffee who can all of we not all of those have been confirmed in California as coming from this from as the glass of a sharpshooter being a vector for those but they are other diseases that that that that bacteria can cause okay so it's about the bacteria it's about the bacteria so it's not that the glassy wing sharpshooter itself is is destroying it it's that it is a it it carries this bacterium it's a bat so the glassy wing sharpshooter I know it's hard to describe on the radio right okay supposedly it is a large insect compared with other leafhoppers it looks it's it's not a bad-looking insect okay it has let me chase long and skinny relatively speaking and it has legs that you just go oh I can see how they could be how they could hop jumpers it's a it is a kind of a leaf hopper, evidently, and you can see how those are pretty springy kind of legs. So anyway, you know, I would say if you want to see some pictures of it, just put those words into a browser, and they will show you what it looks like, and I think that's going to help. You'll get to see some good pictures. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because if you see one, boy, get it. Right. So they're already in a lot, in Southern California, they're in a lot of residential as well as agricultural settings. And in the San Joaquin Valley, there are several counties that have a lot of it. There have it has been localized in some places along the coast, San Luis Obispo, for instance, it has already been found in Sacramento and Butte counties, which are two counties. Jason. Yeah, you know, so, but it has been successfully eradicated in some of those areas, more, more, the later places that I mentioned. So it is possible to do this if you catch it quickly. So that's what we're trying to do. Raise awareness. Yeah, exactly. So we just have to be equalized, right? And if you say to yourself, oh, yeah, I did buy one of those plants. Don't just stick it in your plant compost. Don't just stick it in your green waste. No. Put it in a plastic bag and put it in your actual trash. Yeah, because it is trash and you want to contain the bacteria and the critter and just and completely dispose of it because, in effect, it's hazardous waste. It is. It is. Yes. Yeah. That's a good way to think about it. Yeah. Yeah. And you wouldn't put hazardous waste in your compost pile. Right. You would not put it in your green waste container. Nope. Nope. Nope. So in any event, that's that's the the news of what to be on the alert for as far as the bad bugs. Hot diggity. Now we know. Yeah. Now we know. Absolutely. Well, I haven't purchased a grapevine nor a desert willow. Yes. Though I've had that had desert willows in the past. They're just such a fun little shrub and their flowers are just gorgeous. They make me think of of orchids. They're like orchids. They're like kind of like a trumpet vine kind of like really big, bright colors and several different colors. Yeah. I've had the burgundy one and then the the the most common is just a pink. It's kind of a pink burgundy color. Very, very beautiful. They're a deciduous shrub that likes the sun. And so they're native to Southern California and beyond, but hence their name desert willow. But my understanding is they do pretty well up here. Oh, they do very well up here. Yeah. Very well. You know, they love our hot, dry summer. And I had great luck with them. I really enjoyed them. And you know, I think they might be a really interesting. Their leaf shape reminds me of oleander. Those long, skinny, long lanceolate. Okay, there we go. There's my my $50 word for today. Anyway, lance like. Okay. And they would be a good alternative for oleander because oleander is it's poisonous. You can't burn it. Oh, no. It is. The smoke is terrible for you and everybody. The smoke itself is poisonous and has no value other than the other than their flowers. And it's low water. It deters. The oleanders deter the deer. Hmm. So, you know, that's it's a nice all the way out. It's like a first barrier. That's why I see a lot of people have them on their fence lines. They do. Outside the fence lines, because the deer won't touch them and it kind of deters the deer. But there's so for us guys up here, oleanders. It's very iffy. They can get hit by the frost. Oh, yeah. And oh, man, they look hideous. They might survive, but they they're often have to completely regrow. You know, I've seen that. I've seen it along 174 in my neck of the woods. Yeah. But desert willows are not evergreen. They are deciduous. That's true. That is the difference. They are bare bones in the wintertime. Yes. And that's one thing about the oleanders. Nice. They're evergreen. Yeah. So, yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's a fine replacement for oleander, but it's a beautiful, beautiful shrub. And it takes to aesthetic pruning pretty nicely, as I understand it. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm a pruner. And so, yeah. I shaped mine, of course. Of course. Yeah. So cute. So cute. But they are otherwise a pretty low maintenance plant. Oh, yeah. Yeah. They don't take a bunch of water once they're established and like that. They love our hot, dry summers. Yeah. I really like them. Definitely. I'd recommend them. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. As long as they don't have glassy winged sharpshooters. Bingo. Now, we need to take a break. We'll do it. So, we'll be right back. Discover the stories that shaped Nevada County on History Unfolded, hosted by Tom Fitzsimmons and myself, Mike Stewart, with special guests, the second and fourth Mondays at 9 a.m., brought to you by Mowl Paint and Glass, serving Nevada County since 1949, and Smarter Broadband, local, reliable, high-speed internet. Don't miss the voices, the stories, and the history that make our community unique, right here on KNCO News Talk 830. 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Your donation funds critical treatments and supports research and training at our local CMN Hospital, all to save and improve the lives of kids and families. 100% of the donations raised in their store benefit our local CMN Hospital, UC Davis Children's Hospital. Tune in to the Ramsey Show today at noon, brought to you by Zion Capital, your trusted Ramsey SmartVestor Pros, right here in Nevada County. Welcome back to Master Gardener's and Friends Radio Show. Absolutely. Yes. I'm Master Gardener, Christine Smith. And I'm Master Gardener, Chrissy Freeman. And... We are going to do just a couple more things in our last little half an hour. But I wanted to say just one unrelated thing. We mentioned grapes. Yes. So I wanted to put in a little reminder to folks. If you are growing grapes, if you haven't already done it, now's the time to go. Are the birds starting to eat my grapes? Because the grapes are starting to get ready and be just perfect. If they're not bothering it, forget it. But if they are starting to bother your grapes... Get some netting. Exactly. Now's the time. If you've done all the pruning you're going to do and all that other stuff, just put it off. You don't have to do anything very fancy with it. Yeah. Just protection for the grapes. Just keep the... It just helps keep the birds off. Yeah. Yeah. Some years I would have birds. Some years I didn't have birds. Mm-hmm. So I would not put... I didn't put up the netting when I didn't need to. Yeah. Because it's... Yeah. If you don't need it, why bother? Absolutely. Absolutely. We've got enough chores in the yard. Yeah. Absolutely. Oh, you do. And it's almost... It's just the very beginning of persimmon season. Oh. So those with... You know, I love persimmon trees. I'm not a big persimmon eater. Mm-hmm. But I really, really love persimmon trees. They're gorgeous. Because, gosh, you know, here we are. All the fruit trees are bare, no leaves, and then the persimmon tree has these bright, beautiful fruit hanging all over them. It's like... Honestly, it's like a Christmas tree decorated out there. It's true. And they're just beautiful. They're just beautiful. They are a lovely aesthetic addition to a yard. Mm-hmm. And I just love them. And I just love it. I just love them. And I just love it. I love them. Love them. I love them. Love them. They are a wonderful addition to a yard. Yeah. Do you can... Now, I remember seeing persimmon trees that were, like, easily 40 feet tall. Good Lord. Really? Yes. I had a friend who had one in her backyard in the San Francisco Bay Area. Wow. Gosh. But I kept my persimmon trees to the point where I could almost reach the top. I should have pruned them better when I first planted them, but I didn't know what I didn't know. Yeah. But, you know, I can almost reach everything. Wow. And so you can keep them smaller. Yeah. Just like all the fruit. And they're perfectly fine. And then you have an appropriate amount of fruit. Yes. And not this insane... I can't even imagine how much fruit was on a 40 foot tall tree. I'm so sure a lot of it went splat on the ground below. Yeah. Yeah. And the birds got a lot of that, but in that case, well, it's not like you're going to get the stuff that's up there at the top. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, maybe it distracts the birds enough that, you know, humans can get the stuff that's a little lower down. One would hope, yes. That's not damaged. Yeah. You hate it when the birds go along and they take one teeny little peck of this one, and then a little peck from the next fruit. Yeah. Yeah. That's a killer. Yeah. So I'm looking forward to... There are now persimmons in the farmer's market. Nice. Yes. So... What's your favorite kind? Well, my favorite is the fuyus, which are the flat ones. For fresh eating. Yes. You know, I had never eaten one of those. A fellow master gardener who was crazy about persimmons talked me into trying a fuyu, and it was firm and crunchy, almost like an apple. It was very good. They're wonderful. They are fabulous for salads. Oh, I bet. I bet. And you know what? If you're very adventurous, you could put thin slices of that in an adventurous sandwich. Oh, sure. Why not? You can put apple in a sandwich. Yeah. Yeah. Heck yeah. Yeah. And if you... Oh, so much fun. And if you let them go long enough, they will eventually turn soft, like the hechia, which is the more common one. The round one. Yeah. Yeah. The one with the pointy end. Yeah. Yeah. The one with the bread and cookies. Exactly. Yeah. My... And you know what? You can just take those. When they're ripe, if you have more than you can handle, just like that, you'll put them in the freezer. Oh. You can put them in a Ziploc bag. Like you don't have to process them. Wow. Really? Yeah. Nice. That's pretty darn convenient later on. Isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because I've done that. I have a friend who lives down in Placid County. Their property is a former persimmon orchard. Oh, my. So boy, do they have persimmon trees. They got it going on. Yeah. So she told me about this. And it's great. You just take it out, stick it in the microwave enough to kind of thaw it, and you can eat it kind of like a gelato. Oh, my goodness. Just slice off the top and take a spoon, and there's this kind of very cold, very fruity innard. Yeah. Yeah. Nice. My husband just brought home from the farmer's market this morning chocolate persimmons. Oh. Dipped. I don't think that... No. Oh, no, no, no, no. Yeah. It's a variety. It's a variety. I mean, yes. Anything dipped in chocolate. Yeah. That does make it even better. They're there. But they have like a kind of a more brown... Brownish tint. ...skin. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I remember those from the nursery. Yeah. Okay. Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm going to wait a couple days until they get really ripe and try them. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So ask me again next month what my favorite is. Who knows? We'll see. Yeah. That's so cool. Oh, yeah. Chocolate pers... I haven't even thought about those in years. Love the idea of what I know it used to be called edible landscaping, and now it's food forest. There we go. Oh, yeah. Okay. No. Of using fruit trees, using berries as part of our ornamental landscaping. Design. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, berries. What a great barrier. You know? Oh, yes. So you have your berries set up properly, where you have the posts and then the wires running horizontally. And you know, they're well behaved. Hey, there's a fence. Nobody was going to go through the blackberry. I have some cultivated blackberries in my, in a raised bed in my, in our old property. And believe me, nobody was going through those. I must say you guys did an absolute superb job of setting those up. I mean, they're just beautiful to look at. Well, I got I got some help on that. I will admit it. But it was really good. And I mean, they've been pretty easy. They were pretty easy to maintain. Yeah. I put them about twice a year. them after they finished bearing. And then I pruned them again in the winter or in the early spring, just at the time when they were starting to to green up again. Because then you can get a sense of how many of them are there really. Yeah. And you can thin appropriately. Yes. Yes, exactly. So the ones that have born and are and they're born on their side canes, you can just take right down to the ground after they flower. It's a second year exactly for fruiting. Yeah. So there anyway. Yeah. Yeah. I think yours were the best I've ever seen. They were really, really awesome. Well, if anybody wants a picture of them, text us and I can text you back a picture. I'm sure from somewhere of what this setup looked like. Yeah, it was really terrific. Yeah. And I was all impressed when I, you know, walked through your little garden. Oh, and another berry that is good for that is raspberries. Oh, yeah. See, that's my personal favorite. Oh, mine too. I love raspberries. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Yeah. Obviously, you're going to have some animals that are going to want to nibble on the berries. Yeah. So you may want to put up a little bit of netting, finer netting on the animal, on the outside, on the animal side of those berries to keep the animals from nibbling at your hard-won fruits. But, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, so yummy. You know, another fruiting plant that is really good in the landscape are blueberries. Tell me about that. I was thinking about it. So many blueberries have beautiful fall color. And oh, my goodness, just like glowing shrubs. Wow. Really, really pretty colors. So it's well worth it. Blueberries are so wonderful. They are. Yeah. Raspberries and blueberries. I think those are my favorite berries. And blueberry shrubs, you know, get the smaller versions, low bush, and lots of good choices there. So they can be beautiful landscape plants and provide blueberries for your cereal in the morning. Yes. So let me ask you a question. Oh, another break. Another break. I will ask you another question after the break. Okay. Right after this break. Why is my lawn still drinking like it's July? Good question. Even when it's still hot outside, it's a good time to check your water use. Check your irrigation timer. Look for leaks and broken sprinkler heads. And don't forget to check faucets and toilets for leaks around the house. A small leak may not seem like much, but over time, those drops add up. Take a few minutes to make sure you're using water wisely. Nevada Irrigation District, serving our community since 1921. Never underestimate the power of a great bed. It's the key to that better night's sleep that we all crave. Well, the best beds in the world with top sleep technology, all designed to give you that great night's sleep, are waiting for you at the sleep shop. You know, there's no better feeling than waking up completely refreshed after a great night's sleep. These are the big brands with top sleep technology at the sleep shop. Brands like Tempur-Pedic, Heirloom, Simmons, Sealy, Stearns, and Foster, just to name a few. Now, it's a big decision to buy a new bed, but Roxanne and I chose the sleep shop because they're locally owned by the Miller family. They don't work on commission there, and the Millers made it very comfortable to check out all the options. And your comfort is guaranteed in riding at the sleep shop, so you're not going to make any mistakes. And the bottom line on the bottom line, no one beats their price or financing. Check out the sleep shop in their three great locations. Two of those are in Auburn, Highway 49 at Palm. They have a clearance center and gift store called Nest at 3880 Highway 49. They're right here in Grass Valley, 410 Brunswick Road, right next to Safeway. every Sunday morning at 7am for In the Word with Pastor Mike Warren of Gold Country Cavalry Chapel. It's a special time of verse-by-verse teaching in the Bible with Pastor Mike Warren of Gold Country Cavalry Chapel. In the Word, this Sunday at 7am. Be sure to join them. Every Thursday we honor Serino's and their menu with long-time family recipes by giving you a chance to win a 32-ounce bottle of Bloody Mary Mix during the morning news with Tom and Paul and at 1120 with the Chris Gilbert News Quiz. Mix it with your favorite juice to create your favorite Bloody Mary flavor or drink it commando. It's pretty tasty that way too. Help us celebrate Serino's every Thursday morning on the Voice of Nevada County KNCO News Talk 830. Welcome back to Master Gardeners and Friends Radio Show. I'm Master Gardener Christine Smith. I'm Master Gardener Chrissy Freeman. Okay, we're on our last segment. Let's give them the phone number again. Okay, our number is 530-477-5626. 530-477-5626. 530-477-5626. 530-477-5626. Very lovely. You have a side job I know. I wish that were the case. But anyway. So yeah, edible plants. Edible plants in the landscape. In the landscape. It's a fun topic. It really is. And I think that it's one that one can always expand upon and experiment with. I think that would be great fun. I focused on planting plants in my landscape that would provide food for the wildlife. Yes. Yes. Yes. Not necessarily for me. I wanted to feed the wildlife. And so I've been pretty successful with that. You know, one can always do more, of course. But, you know, got to walk before we can run. What are some plants that you've particularly found like marvelously successful in that regard? Well, you know what? The critters, the coffee berry. Yes. It produces those lovely coffee berries. And that's been very popular. What else? For a long time, I had snow berries. Yes. Unfortunately, the deer took it. Oh, that's too bad. I don't think of them as eating that because it's like it's all over some of our, you know, preserves. Well, my deer are so dedicated to me personally that I think they might feel like I would be insulted if they didn't eat my plants. Like they weren't worthy. Oh, my goodness. My deer eat things that in most environments don't get eaten. Not fair. You know, it's like my loropetalum. Really? You know, I had several loropetalums because it's a wonderful plant. It was one of my favorite for years. It's gorgeous. I had beautiful ones. But that deer wouldn't leave it alone. My girlfriend who lived, you know, in the country a block over, she says, what? They don't, deer don't eat loropetalum. I said, maybe not in your yard, but they devour it in mine. It's crazy. You know, things that get eaten in some yards don't get eaten in others. I suspect that you may be raising particularly tasty plants by virtue of the kinds of cultural practices you have. I can't say what they are, but I think you're raising not only really beautiful plants, but really tasty plants, Christine. Well, they honestly, the deer just loved them. And it just made me so sad. And my philadelphus. What? Yes, my philadelphus. It's the mock orange. Yes. Which, oh my goodness, such a beautiful shrub. And the flowers smell so doggone good. Oh, I love that plant. Wouldn't leave it alone. I have. Would not leave it alone. In the other house, I had three philadelphus. One was in an area that was, you know, inside a fence. But two were not. Yeah. And. No problem. Never a nibble. Yeah. Sorry. So, you know, I'm very, I've learned to be very happy with my sarcococoa that has that wonderfully scented flower in the wintertime. And it's evergreen and they don't touch it. Okay. And my Daphne. Yes. Again, deer don't touch the Daphne. Good. And I'm a big fan of dwarf conifers. I know you are. And so, yay, Skippy. Yay, yay. They don't bother those. And they have, you know, left my camellias and rhododendrons alone. They do go after my azaleas. Now, that's interesting. Yeah. Because we tend to put all three of them in the same category, but evidently the deer do not. Yeah. They like those azaleas. Well, the leaves are a little more tender on the azalea versus rhododendron leaves. They're pretty leathery. And the camellias. You're right. The azaleas do have the most tender leaves of those three. So, but, you know, I've adapted. And, you know, and I'm not hating the deer like I used to really, really, really be mad at them all the time. And then I thought, why am I being mad? I'm in my garden, the place I love most. I'm not going to be mad. I'm throwing that cinnamon out the window. And, you know, they're there. The deer are there. And so I have to deal with it. You've done a good job of really understanding that deer in different places have different taste buds. Yes. And so we may, any of us, get a list of deer resistant plants. And it's a great place to start. Exactly. But it is not to say plant these and they will not come. Yeah. Yeah. It's one of those things, as we often say, it depends. You know, even my carpinteria. Yes. I have, it's gotten huge now. It's along the driveway. Well, the driveway is also their little highway that they come twice a day, you know, on their little trail route. And so this carpinteria is planted along that, along my driveway. Wow. And, you know, it's on all the deer resistant lists. But when it's planted there, they would come in and give it some serious trimming. So I had a cage on it for years. Yes. I took it off. It got munched. And I said, well, golly gee, guess I'm putting that cage back on. And I did. And now I've got to make a bigger cage because it's really outgrown. Making bigger and bigger cages is such a pain for something where you just go, either because of the plant shape, it gets a really wide shape pretty early. Or it gets a really tall shape pretty early. Or, in your case, it doesn't really matter. It just keeps being attractive to the deer where you live. Yeah. Making those bigger cages is such a pain. I totally agree with you. But I finally came to the point, as far as deer control for plants, the cages were the only thing I did. Yeah. I had plant skid, which is this dried cow's blood spray. You can get it in spray form or in solid form. And then in the solid form, you can mix it up. That's what I did for years. And I got tired of that. And I was like, you know what? With the cages, I just totally relaxed. And the plants really thrive. Yeah. The plants get bigger and bigger. Yeah. And they look terrific. And then at my place, the old place, over time, eventually, I was able to remove cages to the point where I had like maybe three plants still caged. Left in cages. Everything else had their cages off. And they were fine. Nice. Nice. Well, see, that's what I'm hoping for. I'm hoping that once this plant gets enough age on it, it'll become less desirable to them. Right. And even if it doesn't become less desirable, one of the things that, this is what I think, but I don't know, is that, but it seems logical to me. If the same number of deer come along every day and they eat, let's just say, you know quarter pound of leaves on a small plant a quarter pound of leaves is a whole lot of leaves a lot yeah but on a three-foot plant that's big and shrubby yeah quarter pound of leaves you would not even notice it it's not a big deal right exactly that's just a little bit of uh helpful pruning yeah a little shaping thank you dear thank you dear yes exactly yeah and and it's amazing and now see that shrub is about five six foot tall right about three four foot wide yeah so it's gotten big and i think it might be that time right to take off that cage again and you know you just you watch it for a week then you watch it every two weeks and you kind of see what's happening yeah oh i wanted to cover one more thing before we end our show and that is my usual update on the long-range weather forecast with with El Nino da da da okay as we mentioned last time we are now in an El Nino period here in our northern western hemisphere and it's getting stronger which we knew to anticipate there is according to uh NOAA the National Oceanographic and uh Atmosphere Administration there we go uh there is a more than a 90 chance of a very strong event as in it'll be a strong El Nino during fall and winter this year in the in our northern hemisphere oh wow so it's gonna it it could be a big El Nino year what does that mean for us for us it means it could be wetter conditions not as cold okay but wetter the problem with wetter is not that we get more rain the problem with wetter is that what we're tending to get is a concentrated period of a lot of rain a deluge yes yeah and that brings on the potential for erosion and the potential for flooding yeah and then the plants gradually recover and dry out and then we wait and we wait and we wait and they get another big rain event oh thinking about you know erosion thinking about flooding so on and so forth so rather than having just a general wet winter it's raining somewhat three or four times a week nope nope this is like it won't rain for two weeks then it'll rain a lot it's gonna be a downpour but meanwhile that has to start it so meanwhile about 70 percent of California and of course this includes us is now experiencing either abnormal dryness or even drought we are not in drought I think we are in abnormal dryness okay so we are done um and we should all be on the alert and cover and take care of those you --- end of transcript ---